4 Sep 2015

After four Premier League games, Liverpool have seven points from a possible twelve, and it's fair to say that poor refereeing is the main reason the Reds are currently languishing near the relegation zone. If not for some incompetent decision-making, the Reds might only have one point from twelve, and Christian Benteke's offside goal against Bournemouth is undoubtedly one of the season's most glaring mistakes. After the game, Brendan Rodgers glossed over the offside nature of the goal, and this enraged ex-Spurs boss Harry Redknapp, who criticised Rodgers this week for allegedly feigning ignorance.

When asked after the game for his view on the offside goal, Rodgers defiantly told reporters:

"One, I haven't seen the replay [for Benteke's goal] yet, and two: it's a goal".

At a Virgin Media event this week, Redknapp - who is currently on a break from football management - publicly slammed Rodgers for refusing to accept the truth. He raged:

"Brendan come on last week, and what a load of bollocks. They said to him ‘what about the offside goal’, and he said ‘I didn’t see it yet’. Do me a favour. Why can’t he say ‘Yeah, we got away with it there, but it evens out over the season’."

Redknapp is entitled to his opinion, but the way he phrased his view here is belittling, and (arguably) unprofessional. Calling Rodgers' view 'a load of bollocks' in public is out of order, and betrays a lack of respect for the man.

In an ideal world, Rodgers should've been up-front about the decision, but to be fair, very few managers admit to things like this in public. Plus, it's entirely possible that Rodgers was telling the truth about not seeing the replay.

Redknapp is really Liverpool's case this week, and in the same exchange, he scathed:

"It’s the worst Liverpool team I’ve seen in years. They look bang average. Bournemouth should’ve beat them, they got a last minute wonder goal at Stoke. They’ll do well to finish in the top five. They look a badly balanced team. They’re lucky to have any points".

Unfortunately, I have to agree with Redknapp here. This *is* the worst Liverpool team in years.

In the last 7-8 years, Players like Carra, Gerrard, Torres, Mascherano, Alonso, Hyypia, and Suarez have graced the team, so there's no way (IMO) that the current team can be superior to any team including those (now departed) players.

Redknapp is also right about Liverpool being 'lucky to have any points'. As noted earlier, if not for poor refereeing, Liverpool could be near the relegation zone right now: